The hinges of the old window were troublesome. The wooden frame, completely worn out.
The pouring rain seemed to have accelerated the frame’s decay, seeping through the gaps.
Thus, the already weakened window frame could not bear their weight and detached from the hinges.
“This and the office window need fixing,” he noted.
As a result, the window hung crookedly.
“We need to fix this and the office window too,” he remarked.
“Yes, we should,” Adeline agreed.
“Soon, other places might need repairs too. We should call a repairman.”
“That… we can’t do that.”
Still, Adeline had no choice but to insist they couldn’t call a repairman.
“Del, is there a reason we can’t call a repairman?”
The Duke felt something was off again.
The window, broken by a tree struck by lightning, wasn’t something an ordinary person could fix.
Running in the rain as if being chased.
Lashing out at him when he came to meet her at night.
And now, insisting they couldn’t call a repairman.
Adeline was clearly hiding something.
“Del, you’re being chased, aren’t you?”
Caught off guard by the Duke’s direct question, Adeline hesitated. She knew she couldn’t keep pretending.
‘I don’t know anymore.’
Conceding she could no longer hide it, she closed her eyes and spoke.
“We are hiding.”
Surprised by Adeline’s confession, the Duke’s eyes widened.
“Hiding?”
“Yes. We are being chased.”
“By whom?”
After a moment, Adeline spoke.
“The Duke came here injured, and I ran away from the Crown Prince to be here.”
Running away wasn’t entirely a lie. They just told different reasons for it.
“We ran away due to our families’ opposition.”
Adeline decided to add a little more to their cover story, already pretending to be lovers.
“Our love didn’t fade despite our families’ opposition. So, we eloped… but…”
Struggling to continue, Adeline hastily concluded.
“Anyway, our families are looking for us.”
“Being chased?”
Adeline’s explanation seemed hastily made up.
But the Duke, with his memory loss, couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was amiss.
“Is your family so well-known that even a repairman would recognize us? We’ve even been out in the city…”
“I… I’m a commoner! I fell in love without knowing you were nobility, and we had to run away because of our different statuses.”
Caught off-guard by his detailed questioning, Adeline continued to fumble her words.
“We need to live in hiding to avoid being caught.”
The Duke saw through the holes in Adeline’s story.
“Then why didn’t you tell me this from the start?”
Adeline panicked again but tried to remain calm.
“I didn’t want to burden you with such sad news while you had amnesia.”
“…I see.”
Although the Duke felt something was off, he decided to let it go for now.
Adeline’s well-being was more important at the moment.
“But if we don’t get caught, it’s fine, right?”
“What?”
“I understand we’re being chased, but I need to take you to a doctor.”
The Duke, growing impatient with Adeline’s stubbornness, felt her forehead.
“You’re burning up. Let’s go see a doctor.”
“But we’ll get caught! Your hair and red eyes are too distinctive! Ah…”
Adeline shouted, then suddenly trailed off, feeling dizzy.
“Choose one.”
The Duke, no longer willing to indulge Adeline’s obstinance, raised a finger.
“One. Disguise ourselves and meet a doctor.”
“Two. Or you pass your cold to me.”
As he spoke, Cassius’s lips drew closer to Adeline, now barely a hand’s breadth away.
Adeline’s face flushed even more at the proximity, her ears turning red.
“Looks like I’ll have to catch it right away.”
Despite the lack of space, Cassius moved even closer, causing Adeline to panic.
“The first! The first option!”
Adeline reached out, blocking Cassius’s lips with her hand.
Despite the lack of space, Cassius moved even closer, causing Adeline to panic.
“First. The first option!”
Adeline reached out, blocking Cassius’s lips with her hand.
“Good choice.”
With his lips blocked by Adeline’s hand, Cassius smiled slyly.
The sound of a kiss against Adeline’s palm and the distinct feel of Cassius’s lips were unmistakable. The tingling that started in her palm traveled to her heart, tickling a corner of her chest.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
